- Cambodia’s Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron urged deeper analysis of SEA-PLM results to guide education reforms and improve student learning outcomes.
- Emphasizing teacher and school reforms, Naron called for review of key factors affecting student performance, including teacher quality, school facilities, and family support.
- Cambodia participated in the 2024 SEA-PLM with 195 sample schools across urban and rural areas, aiming to benchmark Grade 5 student competencies in core subjects.
Education, Youth and Sport Minister Hang Chuon Naron has asked the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) working group to analyze students' ability to assess test results to provide advice on reforms. He said this during a technical working group meeting on Saturday at his office in Phnom Penh, where government officials attended to talk about responses to the initial SEA-PLM results.
Naron expressed appreciation to the working group and partners for playing their roles faithfully and with progress according to the action plan. He urged continued cooperation for analysing the students' results, crafting effective policies and response measures, and facilitating the implementation of education sector reform in Cambodia.
He asked the working group to review parameters affecting student learning achievements and performance, such as student background, quality of teachers, school administration, support from family, access to early education, school conditions, facilities, instructional materials, textbooks, and availability of standard libraries.
Specifically, he emphasized the role of efficient, well-disciplined, and professionally qualified teachers, stating teacher and school reforms are a top priority in the Ministry's work at bringing through wider education reforms.
The SEA-PLM is an extensive regional assessment programme, launched by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), and intended for ASEAN nations to gauge the Grade 5 pupils' performance in upper primary education.
Cambodia adopted the SEA-PLM in 2019 to benchmark the quality of primary education. The programme assesses core competencies like reading, writing, mathematics, and global citizenship while investigating factors that drive pupil attainment.
Involvement in the SEA-PLM allows all participating countries to track student achievement in various demographic categories i.e., income level and gender and utilize the information to enhance the quality of their education system. The program also assists countries in developing capacity to advance the quality of national assessment systems.
During an April meeting, SEAMEO Secretariat Director Datuk Habibah Abdul Rahim hailed Cambodia's successful rollout of the SEA-PLM programme through a partnership between the Department of Education Quality Inspection and the SEA-PLM Regional Testing Secretariat.
In 2024, Cambodia took part in the SEA-PLM with seven other countries in ASEAN. There were 195 sample schools chosen, 67 urban and 128 rural schools, of which 176 were government-owned and 19 private schools. They were spread in 54 sites throughout the Tonle Sap area, 73 in lowlands, 49 in highlands, and 19 in coastal areas throughout Phnom Penh and the 24 provinces.
The 2024 SEA-PLM team conducted a number of the key activities for gathering quality national data to inform analysis and preparation of national and regional reports to be submitted in 2025.
